http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-09-27/southwest-agrees-to-buy-airtran-for -1-4-billion.html （短網址）http://tinyurl.com/36ljjch 大意是說西南要買下AirTran，取得亞特蘭大這個重要的點。 Sept. 27 (Bloomberg) -- Southwest Airlines Co., the largest U.S. low-fare carrier, agreed to buy AirTran Holdings Inc. for about $1.4 billion in cash and stock, giving it access to Atlanta, the world’s busiest airport. The offer values Orlando, Florida-based AirTran at $7.69 a share, 69 percent more than its closing price on Sept. 24, Southwest said today in a statement. The transaction price includes AirTran’s convertible notes. Atlanta, AirTran’s biggest hub, is the largest U.S. market Dallas-based Southwest doesn’t already serve. The purchase is Southwest’s largest in at least five years, according to Bloomberg data, and fulfills its goal of adding flights to Mexico and the Caribbean. The acquisition also expands its presence at New York’s LaGuardia and Boston’s Logan airports. “It’s a perfect fit,” said Ray Neidl, an analyst at Maxim Group LLC in New York who doesn’t rate the stocks. “This fills a big hole in the southeast for Southwest, and they’re getting a very good asset while also eliminating a competitor that would have overlapped with them eventually.” In the past five years, the U.S. airline industry has seen nine acquisitions of publicly traded companies with an average premium of 34 percent, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Southwest is paying 5.4 times AirTrans earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization, compared with the median multiple of 4.8. This is the first acquisition in at least the past five years for Southwest, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Shares Advance Southwest rose 47 cents, or 3.8 percent, to $12.75 at 9:56 a.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. Before today, the shares had advanced 7.4 percent this year. AirTran jumped $2.64, or 58 percent, to $7.19. Through Sept. 24, its shares had dropped 13 percent this year. The acquisition “takes a significant step toward positioning us for future growth,” Southwest Chief Executive Officer Gary Kelly said in the statement. The merger announcement comes as United Airlines parent UAL Corp. merges with Continental Airlines Inc., creating the world’s biggest carrier. The purchase will put Southwest in direct competition with Delta Air Lines Inc. at its main hub in Atlanta, where it controls about 75 percent of passengers, according to the U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics. AirTran is second-largest, with 19 percent. Atlanta, New York AirTran is also the fifth-largest airline at New York’s LaGuardia airport with 5.3 percent of passengers; and it has a dozen flights a day to Washington ’s Ronald Reagan National Airport. Under the agreement, each of AirTran’s common shares will be exchanged for $3.75 in cash and 0.321 shares of Southwest common stock. Including AirTran debt and capitalized aircraft operating leases, the transaction has a total value of about $3.4 billion, the airlines said. AirTran’s debt as of June 30 included about $280 million in convertible notes, according to a July regulatory filing. Southwest will partially fund the purchase with $670 million from its cash on hand. The carrier has $3.3 billion in cash and short-term investments, and an available $600 million revolving credit line. The combined carrier will have 43,000 employees and will serve more than 100 airports in the U.S., Mexico and the Caribbean. The combination will add Boeing Co.’s 717 to Southwest’s fleet of Boeing 737s. The fleet will total 685 active aircraft. Citigroup Global Markets Inc. and Dahlman Rose & Co. served as financial advisers to Southwest Airlines. Vinson & Elkins LLP acted as legal counsel. --

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